I didn’t have a Gameboy until I was… too late.
Are the original Pokemon games worth visiting for the first time? I know there is some nostalgic reasoning to play them, but should I try it as someone who hasn’t ever played one?
Have any of you done this?
If you want to see the original games solely out of curiosity’s sake, I say go for it. If you’re looking to actually enjoy the games, you might like the GBA remakes more.
Those are probably the best for a beginner to emulate.
Gen 1 is a bit rough. Graphics, QoL, bugs, etc. Easy to emulate and tremendous fun to play as someone who already knows the series well, but probably not a great introduction.
Gen 2 is better, but similar.
Gen 4 is complicated to emulate because of the DS. If you have a good setup for emulating DS games already they might be worth your time.
Gen 5 I would say is the best except it also has the DS complications. It doesn’t use the second screen quite as much as Gen 4 though. And it’s also my favorite as an experienced player.
Gen 6 and 7 are similar to 4, just with the added power requirements of the 3DS. Luckily the 3D isn’t needed. If you have a 3DS, I’d say 5>7>6>4.
Most of the Switch games are vastly different experiences. SwSh are probably not worth your time. Arceus and Let’s Go are borderline spin-offs. SV are worth playing, but still very different from most of the rest of the games.
Special shout-out to BDSP though. It gets a lot of hate, but I found them better than the originals and solidly mid for the series. They don’t need a 2nd screen, touch, or most of the other hardware gimmicks that are a pain to emulate. I don’t like the art style, but the graphical fidelity and QoL makes it much more playable for a beginner than the GB and GBA games imo.
I have a Miyoo Mini+, SteamDeck, & Anbernic RG350V. I do not enjoy emulating DS games. This makes me want to just skip the experience. Make it like Pogs and say it’s just something I missed out on.
So don’t play it if I want to have fun, got it. Hahaha. Sounds like the GBA versions are way better but still not great?
The originals are fun in a meta sense. They were great for their time. If you were watching the anime, playing the card game, and talking with your friends at school. Yellow introducing color was fantastic. But if you’re used to modern games, they are a mess to go back to. The inventory system is a nightmare to work with. Speedrunnerd do not have a glitchless category because it is impossible to play the game without encountering a big or glitch. The games don’t do a great job of teaching you. Very often what the game tells you is happening is not what’s actually happening in the code because of bugs. The balancing is also a complete mess. They’re fun to go back to if you are aware of how the games work and you can use the knowledge of glitches to your advantage, but it can be frustrating to go in blind.
I would say FireRed and LeafGreen are the best entry points to emulate if you don’t have a DS/3DS. They fixed most of those issues, and they look and sound better. Ruby Sapphire and Emerald are okay too, but I find they can be a tedious slog. Gen 3 Pokemon are purposefully weaker to fight power creep, so battles feel like wet noodle fights. The map also seems designed to slow you down as much as possible. They aren’t terrible, I just think FRLG are more fun.
I will try FireRed out. I just bought it on eBay. It’ll arrive Monday. Thanks a lot!